Hi there and welcome!

My name is Melanie McDonald, a.k.a A Virtual Vegan, but you can call me Mel!

I'm the creative force behind A Virtual Vegan, and I would like to welcome you to my little corner of the internet. I'm really happy to have you visit! ♡

I run A Virtual Vegan from my home in Victoria, Canada, with my 2 dogs Charlie and Chester, who work very hard as chief taste-testers and crumb-clearer-uppers. I'm originally from Devon in England and immigrated to Canada in 2013.

Let's Start From The Beginning...

I started A Virtual Vegan on the day I became vegan in 2015.

My husband, son, and I went to a local Saanich farm festival for a "fun" day out.

It turned out to be anything but fun when they started auctioning off the animals by the pound, and I realized what was going to happen to them. This was the catalyst for me turning vegan, quite literally overnight.

A Virtual Vegan was born, and what started as a hobby has grown into a full-blown business that reaches millions of people every year, with my work being featured in publications such as Buzzfeed, Parade Magazine, BBC, NBC, and Food Network, amongst others. (View my press page here).

I'm seriously thrilled that AVV has grown to the extent it has, and after years of doing this, I am still stunned when I see how many of you visit my website every day. It makes me very happy to see your remake photos and comments after you try my recipes. I am incredibly grateful for your support!

Why The Name?

You might be wondering why my website name is A Virtual Vegan. Well, when things began, I planned to stay completely anonymous. I'm a quiet person and do my best to avoid being the centre of attention.

The word "virtual" has many meanings, one of which is "to exist primarily online," and that's what I planned to do. As things have grown, that's had to change a bit, but I am and will always be a bit of a wallflower.

In these days of AI, I find myself regretting the choice of name a bit, but it's been my brand name for over a decade so I guess we're stuck with it!

About My Recipes

Wondering what you'll find here at A Virtual Vegan? The answer is seriously tasty vegan recipes that everyone will love, vegan or not!

It should come as no surprise to hear that I love food. If I'm not eating it, I'm thinking about it, and one of my favourite things is spending time either in my kitchen cooking or around the table with good people and good food, especially when that food is totally delicious and homemade.

I have always loved to cook and experiment in the kitchen, and through A Virtual Vegan, I develop and share the vegan recipes that my family and I love to eat. Namely, vegan comfort food!

Every recipe is tried and tested and includes step-by-step photos and a video to guide you, all to ensure you get the very best results. My goal is to give you the confidence to cook your own great-tasting vegan food from scratch!

New Here?

If this is your first time visiting A Virtual Vegan, I highly recommend visiting my Start Here page and browsing my recipe index to find some recipes that take your fancy.

I also recommend that you sign up to get my email newsletter. That way, you will never miss any of my new recipes:

Then go see what I keep in my vegan pantry and check out my vegan kitchenware essentials before following me on social media.

You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest, I am @avirtualvegan on all of them. I love it when you share your remakes on Instagram. Tag me @avirtualvegan. 😀